On Iconoclasm

Here are three resources for the concept of iconoclasm:

(1) “Iconoclash” was an exhibition in Karlsruhe; the book is still the largest compendium of writing on and around iconoclasms, idolatries, etc. It was also a turning point in art history’s awareness of the potential of iconoclasm, idolatry, and associated terms. In the decade following Iconoclash, an increasing number of publications appeared that took iconoclasm and other concepts as fundamental interpretive terms for any images. Originally published in The Art Journal 62 no. 3 (2003): 104-107.

(2) These concepts are developed in Visual Worlds, co-authored with Erna Fiorentini. Follow the link to the pdf of that chapter, which discusses iconophilia, idolatry, and iconophobia.

(3) A longer essay on iconoclasm and the sublime (link above), in a scholarly volume; this has lots of further references to both subjects.

See also “Liquid Thoughts on the Body and Religion,” an introduction to Fluid Flesh: The Body, Religion and the Visual Arts, edited by Barbara Baert (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), not linked here.